Jesus Delivered Us (8) - David Eells - UBBS 8.3.2025

Jesus Delivered Us (8)

(audio)

David Eells – 8/3/25

Saints, I’m going to continue our teaching on how Jesus delivered us and gave us authority over demons.

 

I want to begin by sharing this testimony with you by C.J.

Set Free From Gossip and Slander by Confession

The message called “Addressing Factious Criticism” is one of the best I have heard in a long time. A while ago the Lord revealed to me that I was just the person described in that message. I was controlled by a strong gossiping and slandering spirit. He also showed me that I was a user of “unjust scales.”

I would repent of this over and over, but I just kept falling back into these sins. Finally, I got so frustrated that I asked the Lord, “Why can I not get free from these sins?” What He said changed my life dramatically. He said that I would not be free from the spirit of gossiping and slandering until I stood before a body of believers and asked their forgiveness. He explained to me that gossiping, slandering, and using unjust scales are sins against the entire body of Christ. Therefore, they require corporate forgiveness. I was desperate to be set free from this bondage, so I asked the Lord, “Where do I go?” I had been out of the church system since the early ‘90s and did not belong to any group.

He put in my heart the name of a church here in the village where I lived. So I went to that church. At a designated open-sharing time, I stood up and confessed these sins before the body of Christ. It was interesting to watch in the spirit how the people were responding to my public confession.

At first, there was an uncomfortable, tense silence. It was like they were horrified, which then gave way to condemnation and judgment, that I was confessing my sins out loud before everyone. But I was determined to get deliverance from these strongholds in my life, and I didn’t care how embarrassing or humiliating it was for me. So I pressed on and shared God’s words of knowledge that He had given me.

I then sat down to wait upon the Lord. That pastor stood in front of the church, totally flabbergasted at what I had done, and didn’t know how to respond. So he just continued on with the church’s bulletin agenda. I felt hurt and disappointed because I was convinced that if I would humble myself before the Lord and His people, He would be faithful and just to forgive my sins. I asked the Lord about this in my heart when an elder in the church stood up. He politely interrupted the pastor and said, “This young woman came here today and confessed her sins before this body and asked for our forgiveness. We, as a body, need to forgive her.”

So the pastor requested the assembly to stand and asked, “Do you forgive this woman of her transgressions?” As one, the church responded, “Yes.”

The pastor then prayed and thanked the Lord for the example I set. As the church spoke their corporate forgiveness over me, I saw this vision coming down out of lower heaven: a black umbilical cord was attached to my stomach when I saw a huge pair of silver scissors appear and sever the cord.

I felt myself literally jerk as the strongholds left. Since that day, I have been wondrously and gloriously set free! For all those out there who know you have a problem with these sins and haven’t been able to break free of them, go find a corporate body of Christ and stand before the assembly and confess your sins. He will set you free! I didn’t even attend this church, yet God used them.

(Jas.4:7) Be subject therefore unto God: but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. (9) Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. (10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you. (11) Speak not one against another, brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. (12) One [only] is the lawgiver and judge, [even] he who is able to save and destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?

(Joh.8:34) Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. (35) And the bondservant abideth not in the house for ever: the son abideth for ever. (36) If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Praise the Lord! You know, it’s a humbling thing to stand before a body of believers and confess our sins. Many do not practice this in churches today, but as we can see here in this testimony, it has its place, and this person became free from this bondage and the demons.

Now, here’s another testimony and a revelation I’d like to share with you about the subtle ways the devil works to deceive us.

 

Forgiven and Freed From Condemnation by (Name Withheld)

One day not long ago, I was sitting on my couch meditating on things. I was wondering why my prayers weren’t reaching the throne and seeking why I wasn’t having bold power with God. Then I heard a voice say, “Your heart condemns you.” I often remembered David Eells’ teaching on (Jas.5:16) Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another that you may be healed. I thought about that verse. I had confessed all my sins after I came back to God about nine months earlier, or so I thought!

Then I remembered how, when I had gotten divorced, I felt a lot of anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness towards people who were involved in that process. I would take it out on God. I would curse Him. This is not a sin I’m proud of admitting. I went into an empty room, sat on the floor, and started confessing to God my sin of cursing Him with my lips. I had tears rolling down my face and I felt very ashamed.

As I was kneeling down by the bed, I was permitted to hear this conversation that took place between two entities. One was the devil or a demon, saying to another person who was either Christ or His representative, “You heard him. You heard what he did and what he said.”

Then, in such a kind and compassionate tone, this person replied, “Well, I forgive him.” I was so humbled! Then the angel of the Lord or His representative came over to me. I couldn’t see his face, just an outline of his shape. He said to me, “He will bother you no more.”

I perceived that accuser to be a demon of condemnation or guilt. After this happened, I praised the Lord, got up from the bedroom floor and felt great! All week long I have felt great. I’ve had no condemnation for my past sins and failures. What a merciful God we serve! I deserved all the punishment I was getting. Praise the Lord!

We need to be careful not to fall for the devil’s tactics. This revelation sounds so much like something we read in Zechariah, where the characters are the Angel of the Lord, Satan, and the one being condemned. (Zec.3:1) And he showed me Joshua (This is also the New Testament name for Jesus.) the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and so he’s accusing Joshua, or Jesus. And I’ve shared with you in the past how the Lord spoke to me that Joshua here, or Jesus, represents the body of Christ. Here we see Satan accusing the body of Christ to the Angel of the Lord, standing at His right hand to be His adversary. (Zec.3:2) The Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; yea, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee… What did Jerusalem have to do with the body of Christ? The manifest body of Christ is the Bride, and according to the Book of Revelation, that’s Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2); this is a parallel here that He’s showing us.

(Zec.3:2) The Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; yea, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Praise the Lord that we are guiltless! We are not under the condemnation of this world. We’re not under the curse of this world. We’ve been “plucked out of the fire.” (Zec.3:3) Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. Those “filthy garments” represent our unrighteousness, our failure, our sins. They signify our not being dressed up in Jesus Christ. (Rom.13:14) Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof]. We come short many times, but we have a Sacrifice, an Offering: Jesus Christ. And because of His sacrifice, the Lord sees us as cleansed. Praise the Lord!

(Zec.3:3) Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel. (4) And he answered and he spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel. Remember, that’s what the Lord says; He has caused our iniquity to pass away. He will clothe us with “rich apparel,” which is putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and manifesting His Word. “Rich apparel” is the manifestation of being the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord! This is God’s promise. He says it, speaking the end from the beginning, and it is so (Isaiah 46:10). We believe and stand on it. We …calleth the things that are not, as though they were (Rom.4:17).

When we pray, we believe we have received (Mark 11:24). Don’t forget that faith is accounted as righteousness. If you look in the mirror and see your old sinful self, there’s no righteousness there, no covering, no faith. But if you look in the mirror and see Jesus, then you know that reconciliation is already made. He has taken off our filthy garments and replaced them with His rich apparel. We see it by faith, and when we see it by faith, that faith is accounted as righteousness. And we’re told in (Rom.8:1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. How are we in Christ? We’re in Christ by faith. Praise be to God! This is God’s goodness.

(Zec.3:5) And I said, Let them set a clean mitre upon his head. So they set a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of the Lord was standing by. A “clean mitre” symbolizes the renewed mind. The Lord has blessed us with the Mind of Christ. All these things that He’s given us, including the Mind of Christ, we first accept by faith, and because we accept them by faith, God brings them to pass. While we’re accepting them by faith, even though we haven’t as yet seen them manifested, we are accounted righteous. However, if a spirit of condemnation or guilt manages to slip in, it can be a catastrophe because if you have condemnation, you don’t have faith. You can’t have both faith and condemnation at the same time.

I want to share with you that years ago, the Lord showed me a window in my house located right over the head of my bed. It was like a window into the heavenlies, and when I looked through that window, I would see visions. Other people have had dreams about my house or me and they, too, saw that window where there is no window. It was the Lord showing us the supernatural. God said He would open the windows of heaven, giving vision into heavenly things (Isaiah 24:18; Malachi 3:10). Well, I work long hours; I don’t get a whole lot of sleep. When the Lord started giving me visions, it was kind of disconcerting being awakened in the middle of the night. And as if He didn’t already know, I told Him, “Lord, I need my sleep. I don’t get many hours.” The Lord answered me, “Really? Why do you need your sleep? Man doesn’t live by bread alone. He doesn’t live by sleep alone, either, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4)

For a while, I was a little frustrated because I wasn’t getting sleep, but then I realized, “Wait a minute! I need what the Lord’s telling me at this time of the night, too. I need to hear this.” And I began to enjoy what the Lord was showing me. He would show me revelations or visions, explanations of what was happening in the spirit. He would speak to me and show me solutions for problems, which did not necessarily involve seeing a vision. He would reveal enemy tactics and show me what to do about them. This would happen between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. The Lord had been doing that to me for a long time, when one night, He started speaking to me about demons and their functions. He told me about their doings and some of the problems they bring. He explained how certain demons will open the door for other demons and what they do in people.

I jumped out of bed and grabbed a piece of paper and started writing a diagram of what the Lord was showing. He showed me how common it is for the spirit of “self-condemnation” to attack people. From there, the Lord showed me that the spirit of self-condemnation would open the door for the spirit of “rejection.” This spirit of rejection, in turn, would open the door for the spirit of “self-justification”, and this spirit of self-justification in turn, would open a door for the “spirit of retaliation”. Each of these main demons mentioned here has a subset of lesser demons, too, and the main demons open the doors for them.

The very first one He showed me was the spirit of self-condemnation, and I think that was because, just a few days earlier, we had received the brother’s revelation, which I just shared with you. When the Lord woke me up that morning, I started thinking and meditating on it as I was drawing a diagram. You know, the more you meditate on something, the more the Lord can show and speak to you.

Now, there is a time and purpose for condemnation. It has a ministry to people who are willfully disobedient. It has a legal right to them when they’re bitter and unforgiving towards their brothers because, in that case, they get turned over to the tormentors. Jesus gave us this parable in (Mat.18:33) Shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee? (34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. Condemnation is one of those tormenters. Its job is to torment people until they learn to forgive and forget, until they give up their bitterness and anger and so on.

Condemnation can come as a result of any kind of willful disobedience. (Heb.10:26) If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins (Jesus doesn’t pay the penalty for the curse that willful sin brings. You end up paying for it. You end up getting a “whipping” and these tormentor demons are the ones that carry this out.), but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. The “adversaries” referred to here are in you. There are things in you that don’t belong, things that are not friendly to God or the spiritual man, so there is a good ministry of condemnation, but condemnation has no legal right to you when you have confessed your sin to God and forsaken it. Once you put that sin under the Blood of Christ, it’s under the Blood.

It’s a bad ministry of condemnation if you’re doing your best to walk away from that sin, yet you still feel condemned, because confessing and forsaking sin has nothing to do with your emotions. It’s believing what the Bible says that counts. Learn to overcome your emotions and walk by what “thus saith the Lord.” If God says He’s forgiven you when you’ve confessed your sins, that’s what you believe. Don’t pay attention to any demonic spirit that says otherwise. If you do listen to some spirit, it’s because you’re giving in to an emotion. Remember that the devil will try to give you illegal thoughts, and if you listen to them instead of casting them down, it will affect your emotions. Our emotions are supposed to be submitted to your spiritual man and the Word of God in you. We get all out of whack when we fall into sin, and we start being ruled by our emotions, our lower nature, our old man.

That’s just the opposite of what is supposed to be. You’re supposed to be ruled by your spirit, which is in submission to the Word of God. We need to learn not to listen to emotions that are contrary to God’s Word, and condemnation is one of those feelings that can come over you. The apostle Paul said, (Rom.7:19) For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise. (20) But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. In other words, “If I don’t do the good that I want to do or I will to do, but instead I do the evil that I don’t want to do and I don’t will to do, then it’s not me that does it. It’s the sin that dwells in me.” God is separating you from the sin. He’s saying, “You’re okay, but that sin’s gotta go.” This is true because you’re not supposed to receive condemnation for failures. If it’s failure and not a willful disobedience where you’re purposely sinning against God with your will, you confess your sin, and He forgives you.

As with failure, the same goes for ignorance. In the Old Testament, according to the Law, you sinned whether you knew it or not, and after you found out about it, you had to bring a sacrifice. (Lev.5:17) And if any one sin, and do any of the things which Jehovah hath commanded not to be done; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 18 And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, according to thy estimation, for a trespass-offering, unto the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing wherein he erred unwittingly and knew it not, and he shall be forgiven.

But the New Testament says in (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. This is a good deal! God is not imputing the finer points of the Bible against you, in the event that you don’t understand that you’re out of His Will. It’s like children as they’re growing up. They do a lot of things that an adult wouldn’t do, but you don’t really impute iniquity to them unless they do something you’ve told them not to do, but they’re doing it anyway. They’re being self-willed and insolent and arrogant, and that’s when you spank them, but normally, if they do childish things, you let that go. That’s just the way we train up our children, and that’s the way God trains up His children.

(Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. That’s when God imputes sin to you. You’re not supposed to be condemned for things that you’ve done in ignorance or in failure. You’re supposed to be condemned only for things that you do wrong willfully. Remember what Paul said, (Rom.7:19) For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise. He did not will to do something wrong. “And the evil which I would not (or ‘willed not’), that I do!” He was lamenting the fact that he was falling victim to something he hated, and God said, “Well, then it’s not you that does it, it’s the sin that dwells in you. It’s the old man.”

What do we do with the old man? (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. We reckon the old man’s dead and gone. We account ourselves to be dead unto sin, and the Lord does, too. If you reckon it, He reckons it. As Jesus said, (Mat.9:29) … According to your faith, be it done unto you. There is a time for condemnation, but there’s a time when you shouldn’t receive condemnation, such as when it’s a demon coming to take advantage of you because you may not understand that … I have caused your iniquity (That’s the “filthy garment.”) to pass from thee… (Zec.3:4) The Lord said that it’s already done. He has delivered us.

Another demon that the Lord showed me is called “self-justification.” It appears that self-condemnation is almost the opposite of self-justification. With one, you’re justifying yourself, and with the other, you’re condemning yourself. You would think that a person couldn’t have both of them at the same time, but yes, they can, and I’ve seen it. The Lord showed me that first, there’s one other demon that has to come in the middle there; he’s called “rejection.” When that demon comes in the middle, it makes it possible for a person to have both self-justification and self-condemnation. After condemnation takes hold, it can open the door to rejection. Sometimes condemnation is a spirit that speaks in your mind, but quite often, condemnation speaks through other people condemning you. If you hear enough condemning, the door can be opened to rejection.

Many times, children come into this spirit of rejection when they receive enough criticism and condemnation from others. Rejection is a feeling that God has rejected you or that people have rejected you. It puts a wall between you and other people. Rejection is a nasty spirit that often companies with a spirit called “fear of rejection,” and fear of rejection, basically, is one of those spirits that pushes people around. It makes them do things because of fear, because they don’t want a certain thing to happen to them; that thing is rejection. They do things, or don’t do things, because they’re afraid it might cause people to reject them. They’re always being moved by this fear, instead of the fear of the Lord (Job 28:28; Proverbs 1:29,9:10,15:23; Revelation 15:4, etc.)

You can’t serve rejection or fear of rejection and the Lord at the same time; it’s impossible; you just can’t do it. A person having this fear of rejection receives a hatred for correction, or “reproof,” as the Bible sometimes calls it. If you try to help someone by bringing correction to them, even ever so gently, like “charming the serpent,” they’ll bite you like a serpent. (Ecc.10:11) If the serpent bite before it is charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer. Trying to get around the flesh of a person who has rejection in order to help them, without that old flesh rearing up, is very hard to do. They’ll strike out at you because they’ve received that hatred for correction, which is common to people who have a spirit of rejection. After rejection, it’s the next demon that’s let in.

So people with spirits of condemnation and rejection also have this hatred for correction. And boy, is that a trap! If nobody can correct you, you’re in for some very big problems! (Pro.15:5) A fool despiseth his father’s correction; (That “father” can be your natural parent, or that “father” can be your spiritual father on earth as in 1 Corinthians 4:15, or that “father” can be our Heavenly Father.); but he that regardeth reproof (This is somebody who pays attention to correction and takes it to heart.) getteth prudence.

The Bible also says, (Eph.4:31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice… “Let… anger…be put away from you.” (Ecc.7:9) Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. So, this is saying that if you have anger, you’re being a fool. If you don’t like correction, or somebody laughs at you, and so forth, the next thing that comes in is anger, and that means you’re being a fool. So we see that one of these spirits just opens the door to the next, until it’s a grievous situation. Hating reproof or correction is a very dangerous place to be.

Our Father will correct us because He loves us and wants us to repent for sin. But there are many people who will become angry with God when He corrects them because they don’t yet know His love. 1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love. There’s that “fear of rejection” and not being able to accept correction. But God is treating you as a son. Heb 12:6-8 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The testimony of the brother I related to you above fell into that trap where he blamed God. In the first part of his testimony, he confessed that he had gotten angry with God, but it’s a good thing that God doesn’t give us our way. God stops us, putting up roadblocks here and there. He even lets demons come in to hinder us. This is to prevent us from doing something that He doesn’t want us to do, or that He won’t permit us to do because of our sins. And so, people will get angry. If you’re going to bring any form of correction to them, you have to be very careful. You have to really charm the serpent, but even then, no matter how careful you are, sometimes they’ll still bite you. You may know people like this, or you may be experiencing this happening in your life right now. You may be wrestling with these demons that are trying to bring you into an ultimate, no-escape, terrible trap of hatred for correction.

Father, in Jesus name, we ask that You reveal to the brethren how the demons may be using any of these tactics against them, and as they confess their sins, we know that You hear them and are faithful to forgive them. We thank You for the Blood of Jesus and forgiveness for our sins of failure and mistakes. We command spirits of condemnation, rejection, and the fear of rejection, and fear of correction to go now! You demons no longer have authority over us because we’ve been forgiven and set free from all the powers of darkness and translated into the Father’s Kingdom of the Son of His love! Hallelujah!

A person with these spirits we’ve already mentioned doesn’t want to hear correction because correction causes them to feel emotional pain. They read any kind of correction as rejection, which is very painful to them, and so the next thing that comes along is a spirit of self-justification. Self-justification in a person describes a person who, in their own eyes, never does anything wrong. That’s another terrible trap because when self-justification is present, you can still call yourself a Christian while self-justifying practically any kind of sin. We’ve seen people do this. While committing terrible sins, while they’re lying, cheating, stealing, slandering, holding unforgiveness, fornicating, and on and on, these people call themselves “Christian.” They consider themselves to be right in what they’re doing, yet they will judge you. Their conscience has been defiled; it’s been seared. And as they self-justify, they become (1Ti.4:2) … men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron.

Self-justification will let in a great many kinds of sin and demon spirits, such as lying, cheating, stealing, slandering, false prophesying, or, usually out of anger, even receiving false revelation. They’ve become completely deceived by this demon. A person can become so self-justified that they think they’re not doing anything wrong, even as the demons and sins of all kinds just start flooding in and taking over. Any worldly person would look at them in this circumstance and say, “They’re crazy! They say they’re Christian, so how can they do that?” Well, the conscience of a self-justified person is defiled, meaning it doesn’t talk to them anymore, and people with self-justification can be the biggest hypocrites around. While they sin, they’ll condemn you and never give it a second thought.

When a person’s conscience becomes defiled, that person becomes separated from the Word of the Lord, separated from being convicted by the Word of the Lord. Someone can give that person the Word, and it just won’t affect them. Of course, the Word is Jesus Christ Himself. You can’t be separated from His Word without being separated from Him. Self-justification is a very vicious trap. If you are justifying yourself, the one thing that you must do in order to receive deliverance is to confess your sin. (1Jn.1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Unrighteousness is the foothold that demons use to take advantage of us. Remember Jesus said, (Joh.14:30) I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me… There was nothing that the devil could get a grip on. Jesus didn’t have unrighteousness, so these devils failed to be able to make Him do what they wanted.

Ultimately, if you’re caught in this terrible trap of self-justification, you’re going to fall into all these sins and corruption. You’re going to be a hypocrite. You’re going to end up with a defiled conscience to where the Lord won’t be able to convict you of sin, and all the while you’ll be thinking, “I’m okay because God’s on my side,” but He’s not. It ends in chastening or, without repentance on your part, in destruction. The sad truth is that when a person has this spirit of self-justification, they’re afraid to confess sins because people might reject them, and since they also have this spirit of rejection, they can’t confess their sins.

I have tried and tried to get them to confess their sins, telling them, “Hey, look at this verse! Look at this awesome promise here!” (1Jn.1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. But people with this spirit of self-justification will just point their finger everywhere else. “No, it’s your fault! It’s all your fault; you did it. It’s not me. Nope, nope, nope.” This is the terrible trap of self-justification. If you continue this path and you’re caught, you’ll split hell wide open without God’s mercy to confess and repent of your sin.

Now, I want to explain to you that there is a difference between a covering and a cleansing of the Blood of Christ. The Lord says in (Psa.32:1) Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. The Blood of the Lamb is covering the sin of this person who has faith in Him. This person’s failures are covered and their ignorance is covered. They’re walking as a child of God. (Psa.32:2) Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity… When a person is not walking in willful disobedience, God won’t impute iniquity to them because they’re walking by faith. The only thing that gives you this benefit, even in your ignorance and failures, is faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. The Blood of Jesus is the only covering that gives you this benefit, but this covering that the Lord gives us is not the end. It’s a means to an end.

The Lord expects there to come a time when you don’t have to be covered because you have become obedient in that particular area. God covers a person until they come to the place of sanctification and obedience. Then they don’t need that covering anymore. You may have other things that need to be covered, but if you’ve been sanctified in that particular area, you don’t need a covering for something that is not sin. (1Jn.1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

First, there’s the covering of the Blood, and then there’s the cleansing of the Blood. When you receive the cleansing of the Blood, you don’t need the covering of the Blood because you don’t have that sin anymore. You don’t have that problem anymore. It’s gone. We may know of places in our life where we’re not tempted at all by things in which we used to be tempted. That’s because we’ve been sanctified and we’ve been washed in the Blood. We don’t need a covering in that area anymore, but when He says, “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,” it’s because of a Blood covering there. He is describing somebody who’s walking by faith. The sin that they did is not imputed to them because it was not willful but done in ignorance or failure. Willful sin is when you know it’s wrong, but you’re going to do it anyway because you’re headstrong.

Continuing with (Psa.32:3) When I kept silence, my bones wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. Your life comes from your bones. Your blood comes from the bone marrow. The Bible says, (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. So what does he mean by “When I kept silence”? He’s saying that when he didn’t confess his sins, the curse was on him. I try to get to the root of a person’s problem. Usually, that root is that they need to confess sins in order that they might be cleansed by the Blood from all unrighteousness.

If you want to minister to people, it is helpful to find the root of the problem and deal with that, so the demon has nothing to hold on to. This way, you give people something that will actually last. There was a certain brother I had prayed with some years ago, and there had been a good change in his life, but it didn’t last. Then the Lord directed us to the root of the problem, which was that he was holding on to unforgiveness. Unforgiveness kept letting the demons back in to trouble him, causing him to do things that he didn’t want to do. Jesus said in (Mat.18:35) So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. The good effect that came from our prayer some years before didn’t last, and the problem had returned because we hadn’t dealt with the root.

“Self-righteousness” is another name for “self-justification.” If you can’t get a person to confess their sins, it is because of this spirit of self-justification or self-righteousness. When a person considers that they’re righteous, although everybody else around them can clearly see they’re not, this is the spirit of self-righteousness. If they continue to “keep silence,” if they don’t confess their sin, they’ll live under the curse. The person in Psalm 32, the man to whom the Lord won’t impute iniquity, is somebody who is confessing their sins.

(Psa.32:3) When I kept silence, my bones wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. (4) For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me (God’s chastening was upon him.): My moisture was changed as with the drought of summer. (He was drying up.) Selah (5) I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And mine iniquity did I not hide: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. The great benefit is that if He forgives you, you’re no longer under the curse! You’re not being chastened any longer. You’re no longer seen as a foolish person who is leavening the whole lump (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9).

We have to confess our sins. (Pro.28:13) He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy. Some people think they can have mercy without doing this. They think they can have the blessings of God and that they can be accounted as righteous without doing this, but it’s a deception. A person needs to call out to the Lord for His mercy. (Psa.66:17) I cried unto him with my mouth, And he was extolled with my tongue. (18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. What does “If I regard iniquity” mean? It means if you’re not going to confess it, but instead, you’re going to hold onto it and be led by it, then the Lord is not going to hear your prayers.

(Psa.32:6) For this let everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: Surely when the great waters overflow they shall not reach unto him. In other words, you can wait too long, and it will be too late. The judgment of God can catch you. You had better do it while you can because some people become so hardened in their consciences that they never come back to the Lord. If a person reaches that point, they don’t deserve to come back to the Lord, yet still He is merciful. Through the prayers of others, He does things that we don’t deserve, but there are many who don’t ever come back to the Lord.

So He says that if you will do this, if you’ll pray to Him in a time when He can be found, then when the flood, the great waters of judgment, overflow, “they shall not reach unto him” because that person will be in the “Ark.” (Psa.32:7) Thou art my hiding-place; thou wilt preserve me from trouble; Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance. What is it to be … in the secret place of the Most High Shall … under the shadow of the Almighty? (Psa.91:1) It is to be in a right relationship with Him because you have confessed your sins. Some people believe that they have this because of some other reason, but there is no other way to be there. If you have any sin, you have to confess it in order to be forgiven and hidden.

The Lord showed me that “retaliation” is the next demon. It comes after condemnation, rejection, and self-justification. If a person is self-justified or self-righteous, hating correction and continues to walk in unforgiveness, or in any of these other sins, then the next thing that happens is retaliation against the person who has corrected or offended them.

One time, I had a disagreement with a man who had some people who were taking his side in his little assembly. Two prophets from among them prophesied my death. One of the prophecies was for the next day. I said, “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He prophesied that I was going to die, that I wouldn’t be around the next day. I emailed him the next day and said, “I’m still here.” I knew I hadn’t sinned. This other man had sinned. These people were just angry because I wasn’t going to put up with it. Then there was a second man who prophesied my death in three days, but in three days, I was still there. Then he said he had meant three months, but at the end of three months, I was still there. Their anger was causing them to prophesy falsely.

Retaliation can come in many forms, such as false speaking, slander, and false prophecy, or false revelations against the offending person. Retaliation’s spinoffs can open the door to wrath and indignation and other negative emotions because demons can manifest as fallen, corrupt emotions. Do you know what it is in us that stirs up emotions? It’s our thoughts.

For example, when somebody wants to know how to not be overcome by lust, I ask, “Well, what are you thinking about? What are you looking at?” If a person is not going to quit doing that, then they’re not going to give up the lust. Every other emotion works the same way: It’s what you think about; it’s what you look at; it’s what you listen to. Every sin your carnal man, the old sinner, falls into is because you are feeding your carnal senses and being led by them. That means if you want to stop sinning, then you have to stop following your emotions, and if you want to stop the emotions, then you have to stop thinking about things that stir up your emotions. And returning to our example, in order to stop thinking about it, since your carnal senses are what feed your thoughts, don’t go looking at it. If you don’t want to give in to lust or let that emotion overtake you, don’t look at pornography.

Now let’s go to (Heb.5:14) But solid food is for full-grown men (The Greek word there is teleios and it means “perfect … complete in all its parts.”), even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. These “senses” are born-again senses that are “exercised” by the Word of God. We can look at the parable about David going through the stream to pick up his five smooth stones so that he could make war on Goliath. Those stones were “exercised” by that water. They were smoothed by that water. They were perfected by that water, which represents the Word of God. The Word of God tells us how to see, hear, and feel. It’s the Word of God, not our emotions, that is supposed to be ruling in us. If your emotions are ruling you, you’re going to be very unstable. If you’re not going to be ruled by the Word of God, but by emotions, the devil’s got you. You can’t say, … the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me (Joh.14:30).

We need to be fed by the spiritual senses, the born-again senses. Why does the Bible tell us in so many places, “Seeing therefore...”? It’s because in the Bible, God tells us how and what He wants us to see. Here’s one we can use to “exercise” our spiritual senses. (2Pe.1:2) Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (This is knowledge of the Word.); (3) seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; (4) whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in that world by lust.

He tells us what to see here, which is that God has already given these things to us. He’s already granted them unto us. That should give you rest. You don’t have to beg God, because He’s already done it for you; He just wants you to accept and believe it. He’s given you His righteousness. He’s given you His Son. He’s given you His forgiveness. He’s given you His sanctification. He’s given you “all things”! And He gives it to you “through the knowledge of Him that called us by His glory and virtue.” The Word tells us how to see. The Word tells us what to hear. Jesus said, (Mar.4:9) … Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Hear what? He’s talking about hearing His Word. We’ve been given these born-again senses to strengthen the spiritual man.

However, we also have these carnal senses that strengthen the carnal man, and if you don’t want to stir up the carnal man to live in sin, stop feeding him through these carnal senses. Do you want to be holy? Don’t feed your carnal man because he will conquer your spiritual man. For instance, don’t sit in front of the television all day or watch a bunch of videos on the internet. We want to feed the spirit man, not the carnal man. The input from the carnal senses causes the carnal man to grow and the input from the spiritual senses causes the spiritual man to grow. When somebody is ruled by their emotions, they’re all over the place, bouncing around like a pinball machine going ping-ping-ping. Instead of basing everything on the Word of God, they don’t have anything stable; they have no rock.

Jesus was never moved by what He saw or felt in the world. He wasn’t moved by what people said or did to Him, but any person who’s being ruled by their emotions is easily offended. They’re not being ruled by the Word of God, and they do not forgive. We don’t have any right to get offended all the time. Dead men don’t have rights, and we died with Christ. We died to sin and those carnal emotions, and as we begin to get things right, we decide that we don’t care about what other people say. We decide that we don’t care about what’s happening around us. We think, “I’m going to obey what ‘thus saith the Lord,’” which is (Joh.14:15) If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. That makes a person secure and steadfast in the Word. You’re able to turn the other cheek when they insult you. That’s a good way to die-to-self quickly. God gave us these rules so that we would be able to die quickly, so that we wouldn’t be in bondage to the old man, our old flesh, for the rest of our lives.

(1Pe.4:1) For as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin (If your flesh is suffering, it’s because you’re not giving in to it. If you’re not giving in to it, you are not sinning.); (2) that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. It shouldn’t take a lifetime for us to get this right. He’s saying that you have to suffer in order to get to that place, but the old flesh doesn’t want to suffer through your denying it the right to be moved by the external stimuli and do whatever it wants.

We’re supposed to be moved by our spiritual, born-again senses that are washed with the Word of God to know what’s right and wrong. Our spiritual senses, not our carnal emotions fed by fleshly stimuli, are supposed to be ruling our lives. (1Pe.4:3) For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness (That means a license to do whatever you want to do.), lusts, winebibings, revelings, carousings, and abominable idolatries: (4) wherein they think it strange that ye run not with [them] into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of [you] (If you don’t want to join in their sins with these self-justified people, you’ll be the bad guy.): (5) who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead. (6) For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

This sequence of events from condemnation to rejection to self-justification to retaliation of some sort, is quite common for a person who is trapped by the devil. There’s only one way to holiness, and that’s repentance and confession of sin. This person may want sanctification, but they’re not willing to pay the price for it. “Repentance” means “a change of mind.” No matter what it may be that we need from God, He tells us to (Jas.5:16) Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. No matter what kind of benefit you want from God, first you have to make sure everything is right between you and God, and between you and your brother.

He tells us, (Mat.5:23) If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, (24) leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. If you really want to deal with the cause in order to permanently change the effect, that’s what you have to do. You can try and just deal with the effect, but the problem will be back because you haven’t done anything eternal. You must first deal with the root cause. Otherwise, there won’t be anything lasting there. If you want God’s righteousness, then you have to confess your sins to be cleansed of them.

Now I’m going to share with you the following true story and testimony of Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu.

 

In Hell for Unforgiveness by Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu

This is the true story of Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu in Nigeria, who was raised from the dead in front of a multitude of witnesses. Pastor Daniel died after a traffic accident. His body was in a mortuary for three days. He came back to life when his wife convinced others that his time was not yet because of previous promises God had given her. He still has his death certificate, written by a hospital doctor. In the movie, he recounts his experiences with amazing computer-generated images of both Heaven and Hell. The angelic voices that are heard in Heaven are actual angelic voices recorded at a small church in South Africa. The actual footage of the coming back to life of Pastor Daniel is shown in the movie. Pastor Daniel is personally interviewed in the movie. The narrative that follows is a transcription of a short clip of the video, “The Lazarus Phenomenon” by Johan Sturm, Eternal Productions. You can watch “The Lazarus Phenomenon” for free online. This account begins with Daniel dying on the ground.

Daniel: “Suddenly, I had some feelings for me to look up. I saw two angels.”

Narrator: When Daniel saw the two angels, he wanted to let his wife know, but the angel indicated that he should keep silent. Immediately, Daniel’s power of speech was taken from him. Nneka, his wife, began to cry, fearing that Daniel would die. The angels took Daniel by his shoulders and lifted him out of the ambulance. Suddenly, Daniel found himself in another place with one of the angels.

Angel: “Daniel, I have a lot to show you.”

Narrator: As he looked out, Daniel saw a place where a multitude of people gathered. Their appearance was like that of the angels. Their color was pure white and their bodies seemed to glow with radiance. Because of their similar appearance, Daniel thought he was seeing a gathering of the angels.

Angel: “This is not the gathering of the angels, Daniel. This is the gathering of the saints.”

Narrator: The differences between the saints and the angels were subtle. Their color is a pure, brilliant white from their hair down to their feet. The difference is that the angels have wings, while the saints do not. The saints were worshipping God. They worshipped God with one voice and raised their hands as they were singing. Daniel heard the sound of many instruments. The sounds were like nothing he had encountered before. He longed to join these people and moved over towards them, but the angels stopped him.

Angel: “Daniel, don’t go. I have a lot to show you. Take this file and record everything you see.”

Narrator: The multitude that Daniel saw were all looking at a bright light that shone like the sun. It was a source of all the light there.

Daniel: “A very thick, heavy light coming upon them there. Now, they were all looking at that light as if they were seeing something there. But to me, I cannot look at that light. I cannot look at that light because it’s so dangerous for my eyes. So I tried to budge to look through. They were looking through, but to me I cannot look through.”

Angel: “Let’s visit the mansions Jesus prepared for His people.”

Narrator: Immediately, Daniel was in a new place with radiant mansions as far as the eye could see. It was incomparable to anything he knew on Earth. Though the appearance resembled buildings, the structure was unusual, not made of any earthly materials. They seemed to be alive, moving.

Angel: “Daniel, Jesus has finished his work. The mansions are ready, but the saints are not ready.”

Narrator: There was a sound of beautiful singing and worship. It seemed to come from all around. Daniel wondered where the singing was coming from because he could see no people there.

Angel: “Daniel, the worship song you’re hearing is being sung by the flowers.”

Narrator: As he looked, Daniel saw the flowers swinging in response to the music. It actually seemed as if they were clapping their hands, shouting and praising God.

Angel: “They are waiting for the saints. We are now going to visit Hell. Can you see the gates of Hell?”

Narrator: The angel raised his hand, and as he brought it down, the gates ripped open with a great noise. Daniel could hear the crying and wailing of many people, but he could not see any of them. And then a light shone from the angel’s body into the darkness so that Daniel could see more clearly.

There were many people there, but unlike the souls in Heaven, the appearance of these people was as it had been on Earth. They were from every race, culture and nationality. Every person seemed trapped in their own personal torment, a torment that would go on for eternity, and they could not communicate with others. The sounds of crying and wailing were almost deafening. Suddenly, they all seemed to become aware of Daniel and started crying to him for help. And they called to Daniel only, as if they could not see the angel.

A Pastor in Hell: “Please, help! I’m a pastor. I stole money from the church and I lied. Help me, please! I’m ready to repent. Help!”

Narrator: Immediately after the pastor made the statement, the force that was tormenting him seemed to increase. The people had flesh, but no blood. And they almost seemed to be on fire, although no flames could be seen. There was a group of people who were eating their own flesh. They would vomit what they had eaten, and their flesh grew back. This carried on in an endless cycle of torment.

Angel: “Those people you see eating themselves…they practiced witchcraft while they were on Earth. They specialized in eating human flesh and now they’ll eat themselves forever. They are reaping what they sowed.”

Daniel: “That place is not good for any human being created by God to go. God did not make that place for human beings; He made that place for the devil and his agents. But stubborn human beings who will disobey God, like the devil, will also go there. God has no mind to put any human being in Hell. It’s a dangerous and deadly place He meant for the devil and his people.”

Narrator: What was to follow was an earth-shattering statement by the angel. Daniel couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams that he would hear the judgment.

Angel: “Daniel, if the book of your life were to be closed today, this would be your portion.”

Daniel: “No! I’m a pastor! I’m a child of God; I’m born again. I preach all over this country I’m in, the country that I’m in. This country. No. No. This can’t be!”

Angel: “Enough! Daniel, on your way to the first hospital, you were asking God to forgive you. But you would not forgive your wife, and your sins have not been forgiven. It is a matter of reaping what you sow. You cannot sow unforgiveness to your wife and reap forgiveness from God.”

(My note: Those who die with unforgiveness go to Hell. (Mat.6:14) For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Those who live with unforgiveness are delivered to tormenting spirits and go to Hell with tormenting spirits, if they do not repent. (Mat.18:32) Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me: (33) shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee? (34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. (35) So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.)

Daniel: “Oh! I knew He made that statement. My spirit convinced me that what the angel told me of the judgment on me is true. So he said to me that I didn’t forgive my wife, that I’m not forgiven. So while I was crying, crying, crying, shouting and shouting, I was not crying that, I will only say, see how I destroy my soul, look at how I destroy my soul. While I was shouting and crying, I was afraid. Tears were all over me. I was panicking because that place is not good for anyone. The way everything was looking, if God wanted to put me inside Hell, nothing would prevent Him, because while we were discussing, some group of people, thousands of people, were being sent into Hell.”

Narrator: People started praying for him, praying for resurrection.

Daniel: “Then the angel said to me that he’s sending me back to the world – to go and warn this nation because this is going to be the last warning to this generation.”

Nneka: “As prayers were going on, then his heart began to pant, life began to come into his heart. We continued praying and praying, we are praying. As all these things were going on, he began to breathe gradually, but his body was still stiff.”

Daniel: “I saw myself being held by a lot of people. I was naked and put on my dress. I saw a crowd of people, more than 20,000 people. I looked to my left, right, everywhere. People were shouting, crying everywhere. Some were praising God, some were crying. I was looking around. I couldn’t understand what was happening, because to me I was falling down. And I fell into fear, and to me, when I opened my eyes, I saw all hands were grabbing me. They said to me that I jumped up. I saw this big cathedral, a very big cathedral. I looked to my right, my left, my front and my back. Everywhere was full of people. Some people were shouting, some were saying ‘coffin;’ some said ‘mortuary;’ some said, ‘three days.’ I couldn’t understand because my experience was not more than fifteen minutes. So I don’t know what they call about three days. To me there was no night, there was no day; it was only that moment I was into. By now I asked my wife, ‘What is happening?’ She said I should keep quiet until we get to the house. They brought me back to my house, this place, with my wife.”

(Note from Barbara Arroyo: I first heard about this many years ago. My former pastor, David Servant, went to Nigeria and met Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu. Yes, that was an incredible story! I guess this happened back in 2002. Pastor Servant went to Nigeria and investigated this story, and he even actually interviewed the doctor and mortician, and also Daniel himself! There is more information on Pastor Servant’s website.)

Jesus said that He was sent to proclaim release to the captives (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). He also said that if you do not make things right with your brother, you would be thrown into prison until you pay your debt. (Mat.5:23) If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, (24) leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. (25) Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. (26) Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.

And Jesus warned us in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, that they (Mat.18:34) … delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. Your debts, your sins, are what is “due.” If a person does not forgive, that person is not forgiven. (Mat.6:15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Can you be saved and not be forgiven? No, you cannot be saved and not be forgiven. The most dangerous sin is unforgiveness because it opens up a trap that gives a person over to demons.